Trust Me

Adri leaned over and collected the knives and sword from his body. "Nicely done, 4. For a second, I actually thought you were turning against me."

"It's good to keep you on your toes." I said with an easy shrug.

Adri cleaned off my knives before handing them back to me, then worked on cleaning Parq's sword. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“He killed Kip and then lied to me about it just to try and get me in an alliance with him. Plus, he was about to kill you. A good rule of thumb is to not kill someone’s friends when you’re trying to get on their good side.” I muttered, watching as the hovercraft lifted his bloodied body away. “I feel bad, but if I had to choose between helping you or Parq…it’s not really much of a debate.”

“I’m flattered.” He chuckled. “By the way, if you ever trick me again like that…” He began, taking a step towards me so he was just a few inches away from me, and he leaned down so his face was level with mine. “I’ll tie you up just like before.”

I stood on the tips of my toes and leaned in closer to him, clenching my jaw. I was tired of his attempts to intimidate me by trying to fluster me with sexy looks and husky tones. “Do you have any respect for my bubble?”

Adri laughed and leaned closer to me, his nose starting to brush against mine. He propped one arm up on the tree behind me and just leaned there, an amused sparkle in his eye. “Your bubble?” He quoted, a smile in his voice.

“Yes, my bubble. My bubble of personal space, as in the bubble you’re invading right now.” I said pointedly. “Most people respect the bubbles of others.” I sounded like an idiot, but I only realized that after the words had left my mouth.

“Well, where’s the fun in that?” He murmured, chuckling. He hovered there for a moment, his eyes searching my face, before he finally stepped away from me and started walking away.

I stood there for a few seconds, trying to regain my composure, before I ran after him. “Where are you going now?” I called, feeling like a puppy chasing after him.

“To find water. I’m thirsty, and you’re covered in blood.” He said.

I realized that he was probably right. I hadn’t paid much attention to what I was doing when I was with Kip, but with all the blood around him it wasn’t surprising that I was covered in it. “I’m fine. It’ll make me look more intimidating,” I joked.

Adri burst out laughing hysterically. “Hah! Yeah right! You? Look more intimidating?” He was hit with another wave of loud laughter and he had to stop and lean against a tree.

I frowned. “What? I can be intimidating!” I said.

“You might be intimidating, but you could never look intimidating!” He said, still laughing.

He took a few moments to let his laughter die down before he straightened back up. “Just take another bath and wash off. It’s not going to make you look more intimidating.” He chuckled a few more times before smirking at me.

“I’m not taking another bath, are you kidding me? Last time I did that, Ingrid found me and had the perfect opportunity to kill me.” I pointed out.

“I’m fairly certain we’ve lost her.” He said, raising an eyebrow.

I hunched my shoulders in protectively. I didn’t want him to think I was weak, but I was terrified at the thought of Ingrid finding me again. “Still,” I murmured softly, avoiding his gaze.

He sighed. “You have to wash off. You’re going to attract flies, and I’m not getting back in the sleeping bag with you in that state.”

“Fine, then! I’ll just freeze!” I hissed. “I’d rather freeze to death gently than be horrifically and slowly murdered by a psychopath like Ingrid.”

Adri rolled his eyes. “You’re so stubborn,” He grumbled. “We’ll discuss this later. First, we've got to find a water source.”

I glared up at him but I didn’t object as we started to trek through the forest.